The Arbinger Institute

Leadership and Self-Deception

1. IDEA 1

   Self-deception harms leadership

   The Arbinger Institute tells the story of a manager at a fictional company who learns that many workplace problems come from self-deception. People fail to see how they themselves contribute to conflicts and blame others instead.

2. IDEA 2

   We can be in the box

   The book describes being in the box, a state where we see others as objects or obstacles rather than as people. In the box, we distort reality to justify ourselves.

3. IDEA 3

   Self-betrayal puts us in the box

   The authors explain that we enter the box when we betray our own sense of what we should do for others. We then justify ourselves. In the authors' view, this happens when we know we should help someone but choose not to, and then see that person differently.

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